Russia’s ambassador says Moscow's conditions for the ties' restoration are the apologies, punishment for those guilty and compensation

MOSCOW, June 30. /TASS/. Moscow waits until Ankara pays compensation for the Russian Su-24 bomber downed by the Turkish Air Force in order to fully restore ties, Russia’s Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov said on Thursday.

President Vladimir Putin earlier clearly explained Russia’s position that will allow restoring ties, he reminded. "First, these are apologies, the punishment for those guilty and compensation."

"The apologies have been voiced and now we are waiting for the compensation," he said.

The ambassador noted that "the process of the full restoration of relations is long. "Meetings and consultations are needed, and we will hold them to reach as soon as possible that level of relations that was before the November 24, 2015 tragedy," Karlov added.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters earlier in the day that Moscow would continue contacts with Ankara to solve the issue on compensation for the downed Russian Su-24 bomber.

"There will be a contact on this," Ushakov said. "I don’t know the outcome," he added.

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in response to Erdogan’s message in which he apologized for the downed Russian Sukhoi-24 jet and expressed interest in settling the situation. The Kremlin received the message seven months after the tragedy. The conversation between the two presidents was their first direct contact since November 2015.